Movie Review: ‘Minions’ (2015)

The short: 3/5 ✦. It’s a cute, funny little film for when you need to waste a couple hours (that’s including previews). Most kids, of course, will really like it.

The long:

Well, the marketing worked! The ubiquitous Minions finally showed up on the big screen in all their adorable glory. They’re basically the Dreamworks Penguins for Illumination studio, and this movie is quite similar to the Penguins own solo film that came out earlier this year.

It’s pretty funny, a little ~weird~, and there’s plenty of jokes that the kids will enjoy – with a dash of high-brow references for the adults. Personally, I do like the Minions, though not to an obsessive level, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that they could sustain throughout a movie without getting really annoying. The narration definitely helps (Geoffrey Rush!) and there are enough human characters around to even it out a bit. I was actually a little disappointed that Scarlet Overkill was less prominent than the trailers suggested, as she was fun to watch (the ending made up for it, though).

Illumination is EXCELLENT with their animation, as everything is delightfully stretchy and expressive almost to 2D quality (Sony Animation is much the same with the truly squashy, cartoony Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and Hotel Transylvania). Unlike the family-oriented Inside Out, however, this one is most decidedly aimed at the young (and the young at heart). My 11-year-old brother certainly liked it! My 15-year-old sister was a little less-than-enthused, though she really liked Bob the Minion (so did I – he was adorable).

If you’re still on the fence about seeing it, I’ve only one question for you: Do you like Minions? If yes, then you’ll love it! If no, then you’ll probably not love it!

Who I Am

Like every young writer, I want to add more (good) entertainment to the world. Besides my passion for grammar and all things punctuation (which helpfully assists in my proofing duties), I love well-told stories, and I love helping people tell those stories. I specialize in copy editing and proofreading both author-created works and business content.